RoadsideOnline

The Silver Diner chain of Rockville, Maryland, founded in 1988 by Robert Giaimo made diner history by ordering a 200-seat, prefabricated retro-styled diner from Kullman Industries. I visited it not long after it opened, and I have to admit that it completely fooled me: I believed it was a vintage structure. Kullman reached deep into its past and designed, built, and transported one of the more amazing examples of the iconic American diner. 

And now it wants to tear it down. 

According to the chain's Facebook page, the company plans to distribute pieces of the diner to museums! On the page, they write:

Hi everyone! Thanks for weighing in on the new location. We are sorry the news was so disappointing and believe us after putting our blood sweat and tears into the Rockville location, we are sad to be leaving, however our lease has expired. And, unfortunately, it is not feasible to cut up the 8 different modular sections that make up the diner & reassemble them as an operating restaurant. So after 20 great years, we are headed down the road to create the Next Generation Diner incorporating all the best features we've built into Silver Diner for the last 20 years. But, don’t be so quick to say goodbye, if you miss the old diner you can visit it around the country. The old diner will be available at different museums to help preserve the Silver Diner history!

You heard it right: They plan to build (from scratch) a new restaurant just down the road. This despite the fact that demolition (and yes, they will demolish this thing) will cost them at least $30,000. Don't believe that "available to different museums" crap. It sounds all-too-similar to Frances Puleo's promise to relocate the Vale Rio Diner to a new "better" location in order to get his permits to sell the property to Walgreen's. (See below).

Despite the fact that the diner was built as an assembled diner in Avenel, New Jersey, separated into 8 sections, and trucked 300 miles to Rockville, Maryland, somehow they've determined it's "unfeasible" to do just this and move those sections a couple of miles (if that).

This all sounds like corporate blather to me. The diner is historic in its own right, and its construction quality is on par with almost anything Kullman ever built. Having visited the stores they've built since this unit, I can say with some confidence that the new building will pale by comparison. 

Damn shame, folks. Just another damn shame. 

Would you pay a quarter mil for this?

The Vale Rio Diner is now listed on Ebay for the ridiculous amount of $225,000. 

The diner has sat on poorly laid out cribbing in Frances Puleo's back yard for nearly 4 years. Its in fa ir condition at best, which is a crime considering how the community once considered it one of the most spectacular examples of a diner ever built. 

Good luck, Frances. Just give it away, would you? Only a fool would pay that kind of money for this thing now. 

It was a hot day behind the dirty windshield today, but it has been for over a week now. I started thinking about my father and when he used to tell me how he wanted to become a hermit. He used to tell my sisters and I the legend of the hermit who supposedly lived across the lake on the side of Mt. Dan, a hill really but always known as Mt. Dan. I even remember a few afternoons of exploring the woods over there looking for the remnants of the cabin he was supposed to have. But back to my father.

On July 7th this 1949 Silk City Diner made it's way across northern Ohio to Ottawa Ohio for a German entrepreneur. Matthias Kaplanow who fled East Germany as a youth attended Rhodes State College in the 1980's (recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award 2010). During this time, he adopted the German populated town of Ottawa as his second home. Touring the East Coast of the United States, he discovered diners and for many years dreamt of owning one. Last year, he purchased a diner from Diversified Diners and had it restored to fulfill his dream, calling it the Hometown Diner.

The diner last operated as the Silver Diner in London KY from the 1970's until 2007 when Steve Harwin of Diversified Diners purchased it.